Saturday
SEP 26
7:30 pm
KU Symphony Orchestra Conducted by David Neeley with special guest
BENJAMIN BEILMAN violin
Sponsored by
Casually elegant dining. Memorable meals. Excellent service. Two great locations. After tonight’s show, please stop by TEN restaurant at The Eldridge Hotel or the Bird Dog Bar at The Oread.
SEP 26 | KUSO w/Benjamin Beilman, violin
PROGRAM
Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Camille Saint-Saëns 1. Allegro non troppo 2. Andantino quasi allegretto 3. Molto moderato e maestoso - Allegro non troppo Benjamin Beilman, soloist
Intermission: 20 Minutes Symphonie Fantastique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hector Berlioz 1. Rêveries – Passions (Reveries – Passions) 2. Un bal (A Ball) 3. Scène aux champs (Scene in the Fields) 4. Marche au supplice (March to the Scaffold) 5. Songe d’une nuit du sabbat (Dream of the Night of the Sabbath) Camille Saint-Saëns Biography by Robert Cummings • Allmusic.com Camille Saint-Saëns was something of an anomaly among French composers of the nineteenth century in that he wrote in virtually all genres, including opera, symphonies, concertos, songs, sacred and secular choral music, solo piano, and chamber music. He was generally not a pioneer, though he did help to revive some earlier and largely forgotten dance forms, like the bourée and gavotte. He was a conservative who wrote many popular scores scattered throughout the various genres: the Piano Concerto No. 2, Symphony No. 3 (“Organ”), the symphonic poem Danse macabre, the opera Samson et Dalila, and probably his most widely performed work, The Carnival of The Animals. While he remained a composer closely tied to tradition and traditional forms in his later years, he did develop a more arid style, less colorful and, in the end, less appealing. He was also a poet and playwright of some distinction. Saint-Saëns was born in Paris on October 9, 1835. He was one of the most precocious musicians ever, beginning piano lessons with his aunt at two-and-a-half and composing his first work at three. At age seven he studied composition with Pierre Maledin. When he was ten, he gave a concert that included Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, Mozart’s B flat Concerto, K. 460, along with works by Bach, Handel, and Hummel. In his academic studies, he displayed the same genius, learning languages and advanced mathematics with ease and celerity. He would also develop keen, lifelong interests in geology and astronomy.
SEP 26 | KUSO w/Benjamin Beilman, violin In 1848, he entered the Paris Conservatory and studied organ and composition, the latter with Halévy. By his early twenties, following the composition of two symphonies, he had won the admiration and support of Berlioz, Liszt, Gounod, Rossini, and other notable figures. From 1853 to 1876, he held church organist posts; he also taught at the École Niedermeyer (1861-1865). He composed much throughout his early years, turning out the 1853 Symphony in F (Urbs Roma), a Mass (1855) and several concertos, including the popular second, for piano (1868). In 1875, Saint-Saëns married the 19-year-old Marie Truffot, bringing on perhaps the saddest chapter in his life. The union produced two children who died within six weeks of each other, one from a four-story fall. The marriage ended in 1881. Oddly, this dark period in his life produced some of his most popular works, including Danse macabre (1875) and Samson et Dalila (1878). After the tragic events of his marriage, Saint-Saëns developed a fondness for Fauré and his family, acting as a second father to Fauré’s children. But he also remained very close to his mother, who had opposed his marriage. When she died in 1888, the composer fell into a deep depression, even contemplating suicide for a time. He did much travel in the years that followed and developed an interest in Algeria and Egypt, which eventually inspired him to write Africa (1891) and his Piano Concerto No. 5, the Egyptian. He also turned out works unrelated to exotic places, such as his popular and most enduring serious composition, the Symphony No. 3. Curiously, after 1890, Saint-Saëns’ music was regarded with some condescension in his homeland, while in England and the United States he was hailed as France’s greatest living composer well into the twentieth century. Saint-Saëns experienced an especially triumphant concert tour when he visited the U.S. in 1915. In the last two decades of his life, he remained attached to his dogs and was largely a loner. He died in Algeria on December 16, 1921. Hector Berlioz’s Original Program Notes for Symphonie Fantastique Composer Hector Berlioz wrote these program notes for the 1830 premiere of his Symphonie Fantastique. He was 26 at the time. Part One: Dreams – Passions The author imagines that a young musician, afflicted with that moral disease that a well-known writer calls the vague des passions, sees for the first time a woman who embodies all the charms of the ideal being he has imagined in his dreams, and he falls desperately in love with her. Through an odd whim, whenever the beloved image appears before the mind’s eye of the artist, it is linked with a musical thought whose character, passionate but at the same time noble and shy, he finds similar to the one he attributes to his beloved. This melodic image and the model it reflects pursue him incessantly like a double idée fixe. That is the reason for the constant appearance, in every movement of the
SEP 26 | KUSO w/Benjamin Beilman, violin symphony, of the melody that begins the first Allegro. The passage from this state of melancholy reverie, interrupted by a few fits of groundless joy, to one of frenzied passion, with its gestures of fury, of jealousy, its return of tenderness, its tears, its religious consolations – this is the subject of the first movement. Part Two: A Ball The artist finds himself in the most varied situations – in the midst of the tumult of a party, in the peaceful contemplation of the beauties of nature; but everywhere, in town, in the country, the beloved image appears before him and disturbs his peace of mind. Part Three: A Scene in the Country Finding himself one evening in the country, he hears in the distance two shepherds piping a ranz des vaches in dialogue. This pastoral duet, the scenery, the quiet rustling of the trees gently brushed by the wind, the hopes he has recently found some reason to entertain – all concur in affording his heart an unaccustomed calm and in giving a more cheerful color to his ideas. He reflects upon his isolation; he hopes that his loneliness will soon be over. – But what if she were deceiving him! – This mingling of hope and fear, these ideas of happiness disturbed by black presentiments, form the subject of the Adagio. At the end, one of the shepherds again takes up the ranz des vaches; the other no longer replies. – Distant sound of thunder – loneliness – silence. Part Four: March to the Scaffold Convinced that his love is unappreciated, the artist poisons himself with opium. The dose of the narcotic, too weak to kill him, plunges him into a sleep accompanied by the most horrible visions. He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned and led to the scaffold and that he is witnessing his own execution. The procession moves forward to the sounds of a march that is now somber and fierce, now brilliant and solemn, in which the muffled noise of heavy steps gives way without transition to the noisiest clamor. At the end of the march the first four measures of the idée fixe reappear, like a last thought of love interrupted by the fatal blow. Part Five: Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath He sees himself at the sabbath, in the midst of a frightful troop of ghosts, sorcerers, monsters of every kind, come together for his funeral. Strange noises, groans, bursts of laughter, distant cries which other cries seem to answer. The beloved melody appears again, but it has lost its character of nobility and shyness; it is no more than a dance tune, mean, trivial, and grotesque: it is she, coming to join the sabbath. – A roar of joy at her arrival. – She takes part in the devilish orgy. – Funeral knell, burlesque parody of the Dies irae [a hymn sung in the funeral rites of the Catholic Church], sabbath round-dance. The sabbath round and the Dies irae are combined.
SEP 26 | KUSO w/Benjamin Beilman, violin
Benjamin Beilman Benjamin Beilman is one of his generation’s fastest rising international stars. He is the recipient of the prestigious 2014 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a 2012 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a 2012 London Music Masters Award. In 2014-15, Beilman made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. He also appeared with Orchestra St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall and made his recital debut at the Berlin Philharmonie. He appeared with the Basel Symphony, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Nashville Symphony and Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra. In the upcoming season, he premieres a new concerto written for him by Edmund Finnis with the London Contemporary Orchestra and appears with the Eugene Symphony, Albany Symphony and London Chamber Orchestra. He will also debut in recital at the Louvre in Paris, London’s Wigmore Hall and make his debut recital CD with Warner Classics. He has played with the San Francisco Symphony and made his Carnegie Hall recital debut in a program that included the premiere of work by David Ludwig, commissioned for him by Carnegie Hall. Recent appearances also include performances with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony. International appearances include London Philharmonic Orchestra and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski; the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and Sir Neville Marriner and Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and with the Malaysian Philharmonic and Hans Graf. He has performed at University of Florida Performing Arts, the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, the Ravinia’s Rising Stars Series and Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Abroad he has performed at numerous festivals, at Louvre, Spannungen and Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In 2010, he won First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and YCA’s Helen Armstrong Violin Fellowship. He performed acclaimed debut recitals in the Young Concert Artists Series in New York, sponsored by the Summis Auspiciis Prize and in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center. Beilman plays the Guarneri del Gesù, Cremona, 1735 ex Mary Portman on loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
SEP 26 | KUSO w/Benjamin Beilman, violin
David Neely David Neely is the director of orchestral activities at the University of Kansas. His international conducting career spans several continents. Neely resided in Germany for over a decade where he conducted over four hundred performances of wide ranging repertoire. Neely’s polished, performances have garnered critical acclaim for his interpretations of German operatic repertoire and his recent leadership of the American Classics Series with the Sarasota Opera. Neely is the music director and principal conductor of the Des Moines Metro Opera. He has appeared as a conductor and guest teacher of conducting at Indiana University and served on the faculty of the University of Texas as music director of the Butler Opera Center. In 2011, Neely played a key role in saving the Eutiner Festspiele. By helping create internships for KU music students, the 60-year-old summer opera festival in Lawrence’s sister city was successfully restructured. Neely is a noted vocal coach, and has held master classes and coaching sessions for young singers. He holds degrees in piano performance and orchestral conducting from Indiana University, where his teachers included Leonard Hokanson and Zadel Skolovsky (piano), and Thomas Baldner and Bryan Balkwill (conducting). He also studied orchestral conducting with Gerhard Samuel at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. KU Symphony Orchestra Founded in 1904, the orchestra program is one of the oldest in the nation. Dean Skilton first assembled a group to form a rudimentary ensemble and the KU Symphony Orchestra (KUSO) has grown during the ensuing 100-years. The KUSO serves the university community and the greater Lawrence area, while reaching out to audiences in nearby cities. The orchestra provides music majors with the highest quality preparation for a career in music. It is also open to qualified students with majors other than music. In addition to its regular concert season, popular events include the annual Halloween concert and KU Holiday Vespers. In the summer of 2011, members of the KUSO traveled to Germany to perform at the Eutin festival.
Saturday
SEP 26 7:30 pm
KU Symphony Orchestra Conducted by David Neeley with special guest
Benjamin Beilman, violin
Saturday
SEP 26 7:30 pm
KU Symphony Orchestra VIOLINS I Mandy Wang, concertmaster Wei-Yu Chang Casey Gregory Avery Parkhurst Julia Davis Nathan Gendel Megan Hausfeld Russell Clark Erin Gaines
CELLO *Sunnat Ibragimov *Xiolai Zhou Audrey Herren Alexander Goudie-Averill Cale Cindric Kaitlyn Jarvis Dani Gerety Jonathan Jarrel Keegan Kimminau Natacha Namphengsone
VIOLINS II *Anne Schneller Henry Setton Helen Peng David Halliwell Michael Saasta Brittany Gamber Lindsey Mackievicz Kathleen Browner Ashley Stock Stephen Fuss Sarah Cluff
BASS *Adam Galigher Alexander Loeb Murphy Smith Lauren Roberts Drew Weidman Reed Boohar
VIOLA *Katy Byrd Kaitlyn Hasselman Irena Jasperson Kris Hilding Darren Moring Cassie Tomรกs Heather Wisbey Lauren Fischer
Daryn Zubke Nathaniel Lohmann HORN *Evan Brown Grant Parker Caroline Strickfaden Bridget Saito TRUMPET *Daniel Gerona Trent Warbis Guangyu Dong Michael Raehpour TROMBONE *Gun Yong Lee Mark Sweeney Andy Newbegin
FLUTE *Margaret Lambie Deborah Hass, also piccolo
TUBA *Max Gerhart Alex Taylor
OBOE *Matt Butterfield Susan Tope, also English horn
HARP Erin Wood, faculty Shelby Lewis
CLARINET *Puyin Bai Mickayla Chapman, also Eb clarinet BASSOON *Louisa Slosar Ryan Weaver
TIMPANI *Matt Ernster Taylor Long PERCUSSION Daichi Tadokoro Christine Nance Alex Betsold *denotes principal
KU Symphony Orchestra Conducted by David Neeley with special guest
Benjamin Beilman, violin KU Symphony Orchestra
VIOLINS I Mandy Wang, concertmaster Wei-Yu Chang Casey Gregory Avery Parkhurst Julia Davis Nathan Gendel Megan Hausfeld Russell Clark Erin Gaines
CELLO *Sunnat Ibragimov *Xiolai Zhou Audrey Herren Alexander Goudie-Averill Cale Cindric Kaitlyn Jarvis Dani Gerety Jonathan Jarrel Keegan Kimminau Natacha Namphengsone
VIOLINS II *Anne Schneller Henry Setton Helen Peng David Halliwell Michael Saasta Brittany Gamber Lindsey Mackievicz Kathleen Browner Ashley Stock Stephen Fuss Sarah Cluff
BASS *Adam Galigher Alexander Loeb Murphy Smith Lauren Roberts Drew Weidman Reed Boohar
VIOLA *Katy Byrd Kaitlyn Hasselman Irena Jasperson Kris Hilding Darren Moring Cassie Tomรกs Heather Wisbey Lauren Fischer
Daryn Zubke Nathaniel Lohmann HORN *Evan Brown Grant Parker Caroline Strickfaden Bridget Saito TRUMPET *Daniel Gerona Trent Warbis Guangyu Dong Michael Raehpour TROMBONE *Gun Yong Lee Mark Sweeney Andy Newbegin
FLUTE *Margaret Lambie Deborah Hass, also piccolo
TUBA *Max Gerhart Alex Taylor
OBOE *Matt Butterfield Susan Tope, also English horn
HARP Erin Wood, faculty Shelby Lewis
CLARINET *Puyin Bai Mickayla Chapman, also Eb clarinet BASSOON *Louisa Slosar Ryan Weaver
TIMPANI *Matt Ernster Taylor Long PERCUSSION Daichi Tadokoro Christine Nance Alex Betsold *denotes principal